Our bodies express certain obvious signs of identity and individuality such as hair, skin colour, gestures, posture and physical scarring. I now have a better understanding of why they choose to flee in search of a new beginning. These people, ‘boat people’, don’t have a lot of choice, continue to live in a war-torn country or gamble everything for the slightest chance of succeeding in gaining refugee and starting fresh in a new place. Living in a country where freedom is a right, we take for granted the small things like the decision the move freely if we feel it necessary. My personal opinion of ‘boat people’ has changed drastically after reading Do’s memoir.
Today, the issue of ‘boat people’ is a political vocal point in Australia Do’s story puts a face on those nameless distressed souls who risk everything to cross the vast ocean in hope of achieving the likes of the Do family. One of the main things that particularly stands out about his attitude towards life is how unconditionally grateful he is to have experienced everything, even the bad. It is impossible not to admire his family’s ‘can do’ attitude, their willingness to work hard even with dim chance of success, their love for family and respect for education and desire to learn. In a sequence of anecdotes that are both funny and sad, Do shares his family’s triumphs and failures as they make Australia their home. Do’s family were delighted with their new country, grateful for its kindness and undreamed of opportunities. Twice attacked by pirates and on the verge of starvation and dehydration, Do and his 40+ family were rescued from the middle of the ocean, and were finally granted refugee status in Australia.
This leads into another main idea and issue presented in the memoir, gratitude. All the way through the text, countless reminders of the power and strength his family had to have to gamble everything they owned to fulfil their dream of escape crippling poverty in Vietnam and obtain refuge in Australia are revealed. All of the major characters and relatives featured in Do’s memoir stand for their own personal positive values, teaching him valuable lessons and continuously impacting on his life. However he is a valuable part of Do’s life as a child teaching him many life lessons that helped Do mature and evolve through adulthood.
His father features less, absent from Do’s life for his teenage years.
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